Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is the most important cause of cerebral damage and long-term neurological sequelae in the perinatal period both in term and preterm infant.Hypoxic-ischemic (H-I) injuries develop in two phases: the ischemic phase, dominated by necrotic processes, and the reperfusion phase, dominated by apoptotic processes extending beyond ischemic areas. Due to selective ischemic vulnerability, cerebral damage affects gray matter in term newborns and white matter in preterm newborns with the typical neuropathological aspects of laminar cortical necrosis in the former and periventricular leukomalacia in the latter.This article summarises the principal physiopathological and biochemical processes leading to necrosis and/or apoptosis of neuronal and glial cells and reports recent insights into some endogenous and exogenous cellular and molecular mechanisms aimed at repairing H-I cerebral damage.

Left renal vein (LRV) entrapment, also known as nutcracker phenomenon if it is asymptomatic, is characterized by abnormality of outflow from the LRV into the inferior vena cava (IVC) due to extrinsic LRV compression, often accompanied by demonstrable lateral (hilar) dilatation and medial (mesoaortic) stenosis. Nutcracker syndrome, on the other hand, includes a well-defined set of symptoms, and the severity of these clinical manifestations is related to the severity of anatomic and hemodynamic findings. With the aim of providing practical guidance for nephrologists and radiologists, we performed a review of the literature through the PubMed database, and we commented on the definition, the main clinical features, and imaging pattern of this syndrome; we also researched the main therapeutic approaches validated in the literature. Finally, from the electronic database of our institute, we have selected some characteristic cases and we have commented on the imaging pattern of this disease.

In preterm infants, neurological signs and clinical manifestations of brain damage are limited criteria for diagnosis of neurologic sequelae. Early indicators of brain damage are needed and currently some specific biochemical markers of brain injury are investigated to assess regional brain damage after perinatal asphyxia in neonates. In this study Protein S-100 (PS-100) and Neuron Specific Enolase (NSE) serum levels were studied serially during the perinatal period in preterm neonates with perinatal asphyxia as markers of glial and neuronal damage respectively. Thirty outborn preterm infants with perinatal asphyxia were studied at 3, 24, 48 hours and 7 days of life. According to Apgar scores at 1' and cord blood pH and lacticidemia (LA), patients were divided in two groups: 15 of them (GA 33+/-1.2 wk, BW 1790+/-383 g) with severe asphyxia (Apgar <4, pH7.0+/-0.08, LA 6.29+/-0.79 mM/L) and 15 (GA 32+/-1.8 wk, BW 1810+/-290 g) with mild asphyxia (Apgar between 4-6, pH 7.18+/-0.05, LA 2.59+/-0.61 mM/L). Ten gestational age matched healthy preterm neonates were studied as control group. Cerebral ultrasound examinations (7 MHz) were performed at birth and repeated at 3 weeks of life. The results of this study show that neonates with severe asphyxia at any time had significantly more elevated mean serum levels of both markers compared to the group with mild asphyxia and to the control group (p<0.05). The values of control group were also significantly lower in comparison with that of mild asphyxia. In neonates with severe asphyxia, NSE values decreased constantly from birth to the seventh day of life, while PS-100 showed a different pattern increasing progressively between 3 h and 7 days. In neonates with mild asphyxia serum values of both markers showed decreasing levels through the study period. The results of this study suggest that perinatal asphyxia is associated with the release of different brain cellular proteins in the blood of preterm infants with different time course indicating specific regional cellular injury. The more elevated levels of NSE at birth found in the newborns with severe asphyxia could be considered as an early biomarker of neuronal necrotic damage in the ischaemic phase of perinatal cerebral hypoxic-ischaemic insult; progressive increase of PS-100 during the first week of life in the same neonates could be expression of apoptotic damage of glial cells occurring in the reperfusion phase of cerebral ischaemia.

(1) Background: Spontaneous retroperitoneal hematomas are a relatively common occurrence in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 related pneumonia, and endovascular treatment of trans-arterial embolization (TAE) may be a life-saving procedure after failure of medical and supportive therapy. The aim of our study was to evaluate spontaneous retroperitoneal hematomas in the COVID-19 era, focusing on their imaging features at CTA and DSA and on the safety, as well as technical and clinical success, of TAE, comparing patients affected by COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. (2) Materials and Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 24 patients with spontaneous retroperitoneal hematoma who underwent TAE; of these, 10 were hospitalized for COVID-19-related pneumonia, while the other 14 were without COVID-19 infection. We evaluated the demographic data, hemoglobin values before and after the procedure, preprocedural aPTT, preprocedural INR, diagnostic and interventional imaging findings, procedural outcome (technical success) and survival periprocedural (clinical success), and major and minor complications. (3) Results: The mean age of the study population was 72.7 ± 11.2 years. CTA revealed signs of active bleeding in 20 patients (83%). DSA showed signs of active bleeding in 20 patients (83%). In four patients (17%), blind embolization was performed. The overall technical success rate was 100%. Clinical success was achieved in 17 patients (71%), while seven patients (29%) rebled within 96 h, and all of them were retreated. No major periprocedural complication was reported. The comparison between the two groups did not show statistically significant differences for gender, mean age, mean pre- and postprocedural hemoglobin, aPTT and INR, mean hematoma volume (cm3), or mean delay between CT and DSA. Active bleeding at CTA was detected in 90% of COVID-19 patients and 79% of non-COVID-19 patients (p = 0.61). At DSA, active bleeding was assessed in eight out of 10 (80%) patients in the COVID-19 group and 12 out of 14 (86%) patients in the non-COVID-19 group (p = 1). Technical success was obtained in 100% of patients in both groups. Clinical success rates were 70% for COVID-19 group and 71% for the non-COVID-19 group. We found no statistical significance between the clinical success rates of retroperitoneal spontaneous hematoma embolization in patients with or without SARS-CoV-2 infection. (4) Conclusions: We suggest that, similar to what has been reported in other studies in non-COVID-19 patients, TAE should be considered an important safe, effective, and potentially life-saving option for the management and the treatment of patients affected by COVID-19 who present with spontaneous retroperitoneal hematoma and who could not benefit from conservative treatment.

Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILDs) represent a heterogeneous group of pathologies, which may be related to different causes. A low percentage of these lung diseases may be secondary to the administration of drugs or substances. Through the PubMed database, an extensive search was performed in the fields of drug toxicity and interstitial lung disease. We have evaluated the different classes of drugs associated with pulmonary toxicity. Several different high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) patterns related to pulmonary drug toxicity have been reported in literature, and the most frequent ILDs patterns reported include Nonspecific Interstitial Pneumonia (NSIP), Usual Interstitial Pneumonia (UIP), Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (HP), Organizing Pneumonia (OP), Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), and Diffuse Alveolar Damage (DAD). Finally, from the electronic database of our Institute we have selected and commented on some cases of drug-induced lung diseases related to the administration of common drugs. As the imaging patterns are rarely specific, an accurate evaluation of the clinical history is required and a multidisciplinary approach—involving pneumologists, cardiologists, radiologists, pathologists, and rheumatologists—is recommended.